North Korea has been trying to maintain the ignorance of its population, at least with regard to what's happening in the outside world. In the last year, North Korea has shut down 90 percent of the international phone lines going in and out of the country, and apparently putting all, or most, of the remainder under constant surveillance. In addition, over 20,000 cell phones have been seized. Cell phone ownership is strictly regulated in North Korea, but the devices are easy to smuggle in and use (despite North Korean jamming of cell phone towers in China and South Korea.)